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#17 David Atkin: New directions for the Principles for Responsible Investment

Listen to David Atkin, CEO of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

After a little more than one year since he was appointed new CEO of the Principles for Responsible Investment, PRI, founded by the United Nations, David is sharing insights into new directions on Frankly Speaking. 

The PRI’s six Principles of Responsible Investment have more than 5000 signatories worldwide and since David’s arrival, the PRI has finished a worldwide consultation which will lead to some important decisions by its board later this month. David is a pensions industry leader who has previously been CEO of three asset owners in his native Australia, and he was once ranked as the third most significant and impactful asset owner in the world.

Listen to this conversation about: 

  • System change and the responses from policy-makers
  • Regional cooperation and voluntary pathways of transition
  • Complementing other initiatives in the responsible investment ecosystem
  • ESG backlash 
  • Greenwashing 
  • The disjunction between the growth of ESG investment and the need for finance for the sustainable development goals

“Greenwashing is clearly a concern: Are you just joining the PRI because it's a marketplace expectation? What's the real evidence that actually you're serious about what you're doing? The main thing that we want to lock in is agreement from our signatories that if you are a member of the PRI, you must progress over time. You can't just sit static.”

David Atkin in Frankly Speaking

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